It's time for the Nationals! Retrospective on the breeders and kennel of last year's winner . . .

Ad credit to Jeannette Desruisseaux and her team!

AND INTRODUCING . . .

Pine Hollow's Amapola Pretty Little Poppy!

(daughter of 2023 ESAA B.O.B., "Ellie")

In getting ready for this year's ESAA National in Seattle, I wanted to open the week with a tribute to our club member and friend Lynda Chase, who consistently demonstrates passion, devotion, and ongoing energy in supporting our club's commitment of "encouraging and promoting quality in the breeding of purebred English setters" while also doing all in her power to "protect and advance the interests of the breed by encouraging sportsmanlike competition at dog shows, obedience trials, hunt tests, and field trials," along with our other stated club objectives under the Rules and Regulations of the American Kennel Club.

Whew! That is a mouthful, but as an active member I have had the good fortune and privilege to watch Lynda live out her commitment through a plethora of activities over the past several years. We can perhaps call this an interview and an eye witness account!

I called Lynda to ask if she would give me some time and pictures and if she would be willing to allow me to profile her and Dave Otlewski's Pine Hollow English Setters Kennel as an introduction to this year's National. I was delighted when she sent me numerous photos and gave me an anecdotal account of Pine Hollow English Setters breedings and successes over the past 15 years. Of note though, is that Lynda focused more on the setters than on the list of awards and accolades they have acquired, as evidenced by the pictures she provided.

Lynda credits her son Andrew with introducing English Setters into their lives. She was a single mom, he was in 7th grade and they enjoyed hunting with their springer. Andrew decided to do a deep dive into researching the BEST breed for an upland bird dog. His data pointed him to English Setters and they found a Field Setter breeder which is how they got their first bird dog. Riley was a great family pet and great for Andrew to learn about hunting with, but Lynda desired a bench setter. Rosemary Wheatley referred Lynda to Judy Meyer and Sadie was her first "finished" English Setter. In the meantime, Lynda found her foundation bitch from Canadian, Doug Rivait's ACES kennel. Shortly thereafter, they got Gracie from Susan Lee. Lynda and Gracie were a team that became one of the top Owner/ Handler teams at the time. Maddie finished and after that was bred to Nancy Warner's Hunter which produced a litter of nine (4 boys and 5 girls). Lynda and Dave finished four of them from bred by and a fifth puppy was finished by her owner. The first Pine Hollow puppies were from that litter, Emma and Millie were two they kept. Millie was consistently one of the top English Setters.

Lynda and Dave research each breeding thoroughly and only have puppies, on average about every four years. Each puppy is housebroken and knows the SIT command when they leave. If you have ever watched one of her litters on Facebook, you know, they are raised in a fun-filled, stimulating environment, that looks like puppy camp!

Along with numerous invites to Westminster over the years (Millie several times - with one A.O.M., the first by an Owner/Handler and Ellie twice), Ellie was the 2nd tri and one of the youngest females to win ESAA National. Millie had one BOS at ESAA National in her career along with earning Top Owner/Handler Sporting Dog with Lynda one year.

They are prolific in showing and hunting their current brood. All (except Miss Poppy) are finished and all have hunting titles (a minimum of Jr hunters).

Emma, now 14 is Gabby's Mother

Izza, now 9 is Millie's daughter

Gabby, now 9 is Ellie's mother

Ellie, now 4 is Poppy's mother

Poppy, is now 15 weeks.

Lynda and Dave are former members of Buckeye and Michigamme ES Clubs. In addition to their current membership with our club, since moving to Aiken, SC six years ago, Lynda is also active with the Aiken County Dog Club and the AKC. Over the past several years she has supported our club specialties, serving as Show Chair and responsible for securing ribbons and award prizes (a laborious task), in addition to participating fully in club meetings and events. She is also currently an ESAA Vice President at Large, having formerly served as ESAA Treasurer for five years. In her free time, Lynda regularly schedules handling classes for all breeds in her area, at a nominal fee, with all juniors attending for free.

Lynda and Dave, unfortunately, will not be in attendance at this year's National, and we will miss them. I will certainly be keeping my eye on Little Miss Poppy though, excited to see what she will do!